Candle Making Business Plan – Starting Candle Business From Home

Candle Business – Very Profitable Business To Start From Home

It was your birthday last week and you have received tons of new gifts in the form of a book from your favourite author, soft toys and Barbie dolls and chocolates and various other items. While all of those things are tucked away in the corner, an exquisitely designed wax candle which has been gifted by your best buddy has grabbed your notice and can’t stop drooling over it. You called her up and to your utter amazement, you discovered that she has crafted it especially for you. You are not able to believe in her words but she convinces you that candle making is fairly easy and anyone who’s willing to create a piece would be able to do it with the right materials and a bit of creativity.

Business Opportunity

Not just you, candles are used by the majority of people for changing the aura of their homes, decorating the interior space or simply brighten up the presence of a room with the pleasant aroma of the candles. Previously candles were reminiscent of power cuts as they helped to illumine a household when there was temporary interruption in power supply. But today, candles serve to be a perfect gift to our near and dear ones and you may well start your own candle making business and support your family with your artistry and inventiveness.

Candle making business is one of those handful of enterprises that requires very little capital investments yet gives a good return on investments, especially if you can grab a market that lacks supply. Candles are not only used for religious and illumination purposes; in recent times candles are used in hotels, restaurants and hospitals on a regular basis whereas they are occasionally used in homes as well. Plus, aromatherapy candles are quite in vogue these days when just a sniff is enough to elevate one’s mood! With so many boons and blessings, candle-making business can be the next big thing in your life.

Determine the type of the candles you will make:

Candles come in a variety of shapes and form and they can be made from a wide range of waxes! You can choose from beeswax, gel, paraffin or soy to make candles for religious purpose or decorative purpose or aromatherapy candles.

Paraffin: This by-product of petroleum can be used at various melting points to serve your purpose. The kind of wax candles you will make would largely determine the melting point you need. For instance, a container candle would require lower melting point than making taper candles.

Beeswax: Candles made out of beeswax are favoured by a large mass of people due to the sweet and natural honey smell in the wax. You may also use it with other variety of waxes or scents or keep its natural flavor intact without incorporating any additives.

Vegetable wax or soy: Though vegetable wax comes in a variety of forms, soy is the most popular one followed by bayberry wax. The greatest advantage of this wax is that it comes in a pristine white form and it never shrinks after free pouring which helps in achieving perfection at the first shot.

While you may be tempted to jump into making all types of candles altogether, experts suggest that you should choose your niche and stick to it until you achieve excellence in it and willing to invest your efforts and time in creating something new. Have a clear idea of what you will offer and whether they will be votive or decorative or floating and whether you will add aroma in them or keep them modest and simple.

Educate yourself to so that your wax candles are beyond comparison: Business Planning

You may enroll yourself in a local craft class to learn how to make wax candles or seek aid of the online tutorials and keep on practicing them till you are convinced to sell your products. Remember that making something and gifting it to your near and dear ones are completely different from making the same to sell it off. People are paying their hard-earned money to buy your products and thus they deserve the best. What’s more is that people generally become too fussy while shopping for these kinds of delicate items which means that you will have to be extra careful in designing and making your products.

Candle making business doesn’t require much of capital investments and you will hardly need anyone to help you make candles. Therefore, you can start it right from your home unless you grow into a full-fledged business where you will have to hire employees. But candle making is definitely a business where your customers would expect you to be outright perfect.

Candle making machine

Candle making machine is easily available in the market and price of machine is between Rs 35000/- to 2 Lakh INR. Price of the machine depends upon production capacity. A semi-automatic machine can produce upto 300 candles in 15 minutes.

Investment Required

Initial investment of Rs 2 – 3 lacks is required for setup of small scale candle manufacturing unit. You need a small space of 12×12 room at your residence and a single phase electricity power for 1 machine. Wax candle making business do not require a large space and so you will not have to hire another area where you can set up the factory. But make sure that your home has ample space where you can melt the wax, store the essential items required to make candles like large amounts of wax, wicks, molds and dyes, luster spray, measuring tools, packing materials, essential oils, decorative items, containers, packaging materials and other supplies.

There is also a space required for storing the ready candles and an office area where you will execute the accounting and sales jobs. In order to be more creative and productive, you will have to organize your space more efficiently.

It’s time to set up the business and give it a name:

Like all other things around us, your candles too, should have a name. Make sure you have something uniquely creative in your mind which should also be a reflection of your skillfulness and mastery. Names are always a critical part of any business and so give it a good thought and take enough time to showcase your creative best.

You will have to secure a trading license from your state authority for carrying on your business. While there are some relaxations, in most cases, you will need to hold a license even when you are managing your business from home.

Know who your consumers would be:

Once your business is licensed, you will have to clarify who your customers would be and what are their likes and dislikes. You must keep a close eye on the new trends in the market. Remember that you are not just an artisan but also an entrepreneur. So it would be wise to produce items that are high in demand along with introducing your line of products. This may include candles made in attractive shapes and forms, candles that can be purposely used for liturgical sessions, jewel embellished candles, use of sparkles, colours and sequences in candles, unity candles or anything that would make your products stand out.

People from all sectors of the society purchase candles but their tastes differ. Therefore, target a particular group and gather as much as information as possible which would include:

Average monthly income

Age and gender

Sum of money they are willing to spend for one candle

Best seller pieces among that target group

With this information, you will be able to take informed decisions about various aspects of the candle making business. It is particularly important to know which candles are keeping up a strong position among your consumers and reproduce them in different forms so that you can cater to the growing supply.

Market and promote the business:

A candle making business is definitely a fun and gratifying way of earning money as it satiates the creativity latent in you. But in order to earn your living, it is important for people to know of your products and this can be done in a variety of ways.

Online selling: If you don’t own an exclusive online store, you may yet sell your products in the available online stores. You will have to contact them through the portal and follow the steps in order to get enlisted as a seller. Then, you will need to take amazing pictures and write an apt description and features of your products and add them to their portals. Once a buyer searches for “candles” your products would be automatically shown in the search results and they may choose to buy them judging upon the pictures and the description. But it is important to note here that they would deduct a share of your sales and therefore you must set the price accordingly.

Social networking sites: Popular social networking sites play a major role in creating an awareness and getting new customers. You will be able to publicize your products and they would be able to buy their choicest stuff with the link of the online store attached below.

PPC advertising: If enlisting your items in the online retails doesn’t seem enough, then you can opt for PPC advertising through Google or any search engines. Here you will have to pay a price only when a user visits the site through the link and you can also choose the daily limits and decide how much you will pay for each visit. Google Adwords can better guide you through the procedure.

Flyers and banners: These options are very cheap and you need not spend your fortune in them but the exposure you would get is immense. Many people would come to know about your products and some of them would be definitely converted to your customer.

As you can see there are plausible ways of advertising and promoting your products and you can try or many of them to secure maximum results.

Secure your profit margin:

Though candle making business doesn’t require pricey raw materials and numerous employees to be created, the profits it offer are higher compared to many other business. When you are setting the price for each of your candles, you will have to consider all the expenses that have gone into its making along with your labour and advertising cost. Then you can double it to be sold in wholesale markets and multiply the price 2.5 times or even 3 times when you are candle is strikingly beautiful to be sold at retail pieces.

But make sure you keep a keen eye on your competitor’s pricing and try to set your prices lower than them as you are a new player in the market. If your prices are high for any particular reason, for instance, your candle has a signature smell or it glows longer than normal or they possess a property that’s unique, then you need not lower down the prices but make sure you are marketing it properly to help people get a justification of the price they are paying for.

Scopes and opportunities of starting the business:

A recent report reveals that the global demand for the waxes has reached a presumed amount of 10,000 million pounds back in 2010, 50 percent of which comprised of wax candles and the demand is continuously rising. The consumption of wax is indicated to grow at a rate of 1 percent til 2019 and Indian wax industry is bearing with the rhythm of universal demand.

So, here is your opportunity to make use of the ever-rising market to showcase your creative talents and see your savings grow. Most entrepreneurs start as a hobby and they expand their business to cater to the demands of consumers. Slowly you may have to allocate labours (make sure that they can bear the heat of molten wax) and shift your factory to a new place with ample space to carry on with the production work without any obstacles.

As it goes with any other business, the expansion would take up time, particularly if you have started the venture all by yourself. But being consistent in your quality and confident in your abilities can certainly bring you desirable results. It would be a good idea to set small weekly goals and celebrate the little victory once you achieve them. And never let any unmet objective to deter you from attaining your full capacity.

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